Changes
by bnomiko
Summary: Time passes and things change, but some things will always stay the same. A loose collection of stories following the characters and their relationships as they continue mature and grow. ShonenAi. Prideshipping SetoYami main, with MaiJou, MokubaNoa.
1. Skyview on the 69th

Pairing(s): Seto x Yami, Noa + Mokuba, Jou + Mai, Yugi + Anzu, Malik + Ryou, Rafael + Valon + Amelda  
Warnings: swearing  
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

**This is a SHONEN-AI fic (male + male romantic relationship). If you are offended by homosexual relationships, please do not read this. Flames will be disregarded.**

Setup for this arc:  
- Since this arc will potentially span several years, it may weave in between other existing stories in my Kai-baby / Yami-kins ficverse.  
- As a part of the above ficverse, the usual setup holds true - Noa has been brought out of the virtual world, has a new body, and is living with Mokuba and Seto, and Yami has his own body and is separate from Yugi.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story takes place after "Slippery When Wet."  
- Ages of characters in this story: Seto and Yami are 21, Noa and Mokuba are 16.

* * *

**Skyview on the 69th**

**Changes Series**

* * *

"So you think you'll be back in time for dinner?" Mokuba asked as he and Noa watched Yami pull on a lightweight denim jacket and a pair of boots. The ex-spirit was going to meet up with Seto at Skyview on the 69th, their aptly named restaurant perched on the top two floors of Kaiba Corp. headquarters.

"Not sure. We'll try. But if we're not back by 7:00ish, make sure you go and get something to eat, okay?"

"Sure thing. Have fun."

"But not _too_ much fun," Noa snarked. Yami glanced over, his brows knitting together, then rolled his eyes when he realized what Noa was getting at. "Hey, think of the diners!"

_Diners? _It'd only be the two of them there; the restaurant wasn't scheduled to open for another two weeks. "Don't worry, we'll make sure to mop up before we leave," Yami sweetly replied. He was only able to keep a straight face for a few seconds before he began chuckling.

Mokuba facepalmed. "Yami! That's… oh, never mind! Why do I bother?"

"Better that they get it out of their system now rather than later," Noa said as he shooed his still laughing guardian out the door. But despite his words, actually, truthfully… Noa wasn't bothered by it anymore. And he knew Mokuba felt the same. Hell, if Seto and Yami wanted to provide their patrons with two shows an evening or whatever, well… wasn't that up to them? Of course they wouldn't do that, but still… "I do hope he likes it though. Seto's been putting in a lot of hours on this project."

The black-haired teen nodded. "I'm sure he'll love it. Because Seto's not doing this just to turn a profit..." Mokuba paused, then said a little more thoughtfully, "I haven't even seen it yet, not in its entirety. This is the first big project I can think of where Seto hasn't wanted to show me first or ask for my opinion."

"Does it feel weird?" Noa asked, genuinely curious.

"A little," Mokuba admitted. "But… I don't think it's a bad thing. He's doing it for Yami. And besides, what do I know about cooking or restaurants?"

"Insert food into mouth and chew. What else is there to know?" Noa scoffed. Yeah, he didn't know anything about the food service industry either. None of them really did. This was a completely new venture.

Mokuba just grinned and began thinking about what sounded good for dinner, since he knew Seto and Yami wouldn't be back anytime soon.

* * *

While Yami was making his way through traffic, a nervously excited young CEO was doing a final run through of his summer night program while awaiting his boyfriend's arrival. Everything seemed fine… seemed almost perfect. Knowing his luck, that'd be when something would go wrong. He caught himself scowling, then quickly scolded himself. _It'll be fine. And even if something goes wrong, it's not like there'd be any customers to notice. Just me and Yami… I'd just be fucking up in front of Yami. Shit... _

Seto checked his watch for the umpteenth time that afternoon, wondering if there was time to do one last run through from the elevator on, then, realizing that there probably wasn't, took a series of deep breaths, trying to steady himself.

This was the first time he and Yami had truly worked together as equals in a business capacity. It was fitting then that the restaurant represented both of them, merging ancient influences and modern technology, high luxury and clean comfort. Yami had been the one to consult with architects on the overall layout, had been the one to find a master chef and managers capable of delivering the quality of service they were expecting. But Seto had been the one to turn an ordinary office floor into an homage to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, floating 69 stories up in the air above Domino City.

The idea had come to Seto one day while he'd sat in traffic. Considering Yami's suggestion and deciding to put in the restaurant… that had been the easy part. Deciding on the type of restaurant they wanted – the theme – that hadn't been so simple. He and Yami had been stuck for weeks bouncing around ideas that hadn't panned out for one reason or another. They'd wanted the restaurant to be something different, something unique, an unforgettable experience as well as a delicious meal… something that would incorporate Kaiba Corp.'s signature holographic technology without becoming a theme park attraction. And in the midst of all that traffic, it had dawned on the older duelist that what Domino needed wasn't another stuffy, overwrought French restaurant or a modern gastronomic laboratory, but instead a refuge from the hustle and bustle of city life. Or at least… the illusion of one.

For once, it had seemed appropriate to look to the past for ideas. Seto had considered drawing inspiration from ancient Egypt – after all, the restaurant was a gift to Yami – but nothing he'd seen in his research had caught his imagination until he'd happened to look at a list of ancient wonders. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon… a garden paradise in the middle of a desert… and a gift from a king to his homesick bride. Seto had kind of liked that. No, he wasn't a king, and Yami definitely wasn't some blushing bride, but the romance was there. If he was gifting his lover with the restaurant he desired, why not find inspiration in an ancient ruler's declaration of love?

Seto hadn't explained his reasoning when he'd presented Yami with the idea. He'd only promised that he'd make it work and, once done, that the former spirit would understand. Thankfully, Yami had agreed without hesitation…

Now Seto could hardly wait to show his boyfriend the final product. Even he was impressed by what he'd accomplished. The illusion was so complete that even he couldn't be sure if certain elements were real or not. It was more than just eye candy… what he'd managed to do was engage all the senses through a mix of holographic technology and special effects, tricking them with a seamless blending of the two. The dining areas were set up like terraces on two floors, with the illusion of more rising above. The fountains in the center of the rooms were real; the water that wet the stones and trickled into shallow irrigation canals was not. Banks of vegetation that seemed to spill out over the sides of the building were filled with both holographic and actual plants. The bright sunshine, the butterflies and small birds that darted about… those were all illusions too, and yet it felt pleasantly warm, and the birds sang, and light and shadow played together on sundrenched tiles. And at night the sky above seemed to explode with all the stars that were normally obscured by city lights, and a faint fragrance of nocturnal desert blossoms wafted along on a gentle breeze. Best of all the programming could take into account seasons, weather, time of day… even the mood they wanted to convey.

As with everything else, Seto didn't believe in limiting access to his technological developments to only the privileged elite. He'd known full well that Skyview would be too upscale for many diners, especially Kaiba Corp.'s target market of teens, young adults and familes. That was why he had decided to incorporate similar programming in the far more casual – and accessible – café and cafeteria in the lobby, jointly named Urban / Oasis. They had served him well as testing grounds and had proven popular with both KC visitors and the employees within the building. And in turn, Skyview had shown him just how far he could stretch his programming capabilities, allowing him to dream of all the possibilities for improvement in his many other projects. There was a vast market beyond Duel Monsters, beyond gaming and theme parks, for this technology.

But… of course he knew a restaurant needed much more than a pretty view. Food was key; so was service. And then there were all the "little" things like furniture and tableware too. Yami had taken care of those himself. Most interior designers would've probably selected very ornate, souk inspired furniture with a deep, earthy palette, but Yami had taken a much different approach to decorating the space. He had wanted the furnishings to feel as natural and organic as plants in a garden so that they wouldn't compete against Seto's holographic magic. But he had wanted something modern too, to bring the past to the present. So he'd chosen unobtrusive Danish modern tables and chairs with sparse, fluid lines, and set them with fine china replete with asymmetrical ripples inspired by wood and water, crystal stemware reminiscent of frostbitten buds on stems, and flatware with faceted handles evocative of tumbled stone. Nothing really matched, but taken as a whole, it just seemed to make sense.

Seeing the tables and settings against the holographic backdrop, the brunette nodded in approval. Not that he was that picky about furniture, but he liked that Yami had chosen stylish pieces that echoed the scenery – even without having seen the completed product.

Speaking of which, it was about time. Yami had just pulled into the parking structure. Seto took one last look around, then, satisfied, let his lover know he'd meet him in the lobby. He took care to tamp down any stray thoughts or emotions as he headed down in the elevator. He didn't want his feelings coloring Yami's; he wanted to see an honest reaction. Hopefully he'd surpassed all of the younger duelist's expectations.

Yami grinned as they met up in the lobby. He was wearing a loosely knotted tie and lightweight slacks in a nod to the restaurant's dress code – the running joke being that he wouldn't be able to get into his own restaurant if anything more formal was required – but had topped it off with a jacket that was more biker than boardroom. "So I take it that it's just going to be you and me?"

Seto returned the smile. "I wanted you to be the first to see it."

"I'm honored."

They got into the elevator that was reserved for restaurant use and headed on up. Immediately Yami noticed that Seto's illusions carried through to even the elevator ride. As they ascended, everything in the elevator seemed to melt away, almost as if they were traveling through time. The walls and floor became rougher looking, like stone. The polished metal doors seemed to disappear behind a sheet of water that fell endlessly down to the floor.

"This is amazing!" Yami exclaimed. He couldn't resist trying to touch the "water" even though he knew his hand would pass right through the hologram, but then he suddenly withdrew it, eyes wide. "It's wet!" He touched his fingertips together to check, but they were barely damp. "What is this?"

Seto's smile broadened. He was glad to see that the tactile feedback system was working as intended. "That's nothing. Wait 'til we get to the actual restaurant."

Arriving on the 69th floor, the doors / waterfall parted to grant them access to the short stone bridge that led to the restaurant's lobby. Yami was really impressed. Even in that small space, he could see just how meticulous Seto's eye for detail was. They were standing in a covered courtyard flanked by stone columns, with all the necessary restaurant components present: low stone benches for seating, a host's desk concealed behind a decorative tiled wall, and various arched doorways that led to a coat room, restrooms, and other things.

"Come this way," Seto said, that smile still playing about his lips.

Yami followed him through a large archway and was staggered by what he saw. He almost couldn't believe they were in a restaurant… in an office building. If he didn't know just how good Seto was with programming, he would've sworn they really were outside… 2600 years in the past. The former Pharaoh tilted his head back, feeling almost dizzy. The illusionary sky above seemed endless…

_They'd gone out for a late afternoon stroll, but even with the sun low in the sky, it had been unbearably hot. He had dared his lover to take off his robes and jump into the garden pools. Perhaps it hadn't been the most mature, responsible thing to do, but they'd already known they'd be scolded by the elder priests just for sneaking out, and besides… he never could resist teasing his oft too somber High Priest. He wasn't sure who had finally ended up jumping in first – or if they'd gone in together – but in the end, all that mattered was that they were cool, naked and deliciously wet. Feeling refreshed, Yami pushed a few strands of damp hair out of his eyes, looked over at his High Priest, and smiled. The sun backlit his lover, bathing the margins of his body with a coppery glow and deepening the shadows defining each muscle…_

"Yami!"

The shorter man blinked, then looked over at his concerned companion, who was gripping him by the shoulders. The late summer sun filtering through the windows set off the cinnamon and caramel tones in Seto's cappuccino colored hair and warmed his pale skin to a more golden hue. For a moment dream and reality merged, then Yami blinked again and suddenly remembered where he was and what he was doing there. "Why… did that happen?"

Seto released the breath he'd been holding in, as well as the shoulders he'd been shaking. "Hell if I know. Are you okay?"

"That was…"

The young CEO had seen it too. "Yeah, I guess it was." He looked around furtively, wondering what exactly had triggered it. "But you're okay now?"

Yami nodded. He felt fine. "It wasn't unpleasant. Just… unexpected." Following his boyfriend's lead, he took another look around the room. Although the space was modeled after ancient Babylonian architecture, perhaps there was some ancient Egyptian influence in it as well. Who was to say what was right or wrong when no one knew exactly what the Hanging Gardens might have looked like?

Crimson eyes landed on a pair of butterflies resting on the lip of the fountain. "Is that fountain real? I can't even tell."

Seto snorted. "If you're thinking of jumping in to skinny dip, don't bother. The fountain's there, but the water's just an illusion."

Yami couldn't resist trying to touch it anyhow, though this time he smiled when he felt a familiar little puff of moist air on his hand. So THAT was the secret to Seto's elevator waterfall… "Every time I think I couldn't be more amazed by you, you manage to pull off another miracle."

"I wouldn't call it a miracle," Seto answered as he went and sat down on the fountain next to Yami, though there was obvious pride in his voice. "Programming isn't that hard once you get the hang of it. For example, making 'water' ripple… that's just a series of algorithms looping endlessly. It's not like I actually recreated one of the wonders of the ancient world. No one's sure if the Hanging Gardens actually existed anyhow."

Yami turned and pushed himself up a little on one arm to meet his boyfriend's gaze… to touch his lips with his own. Their mouths were still lingering together when he whispered, "They do now."

Before Yami knew it, Seto had peeled off his jacket and dropped it on the floor, then lowered him down onto it. Thankfully the floor wasn't nearly as rough as it appeared – it helped that the denim jacket provided some degree of protection – but still, the hard surface was surprisingly chilly, especially in contrast to the hands that were now sneaking under his shirt.

_I'll warm you up,_ Seto promised as he covered Yami's mouth with his own, as his body covered the younger duelist's slighter frame.

"Uhnnn…" Yami moaned. Wanting closer contact even though they were still mostly dressed, he spread his legs further apart as Seto began pressing into him.

But instead of continuing to press his advantage as he normally did, Seto pulled back slightly, as if reconsidering what his body was doing, or at least the speed at which things were happening. It was bad enough that they hadn't even finished their tour of the restaurant yet. It'd be an even greater shame to rush through a moment they ought to be savoring, akin to hurriedly wolfing down an expensive gourmet meal that one had been looking forward to enjoying.

So the taller man took a calming breath, pushed himself up a little, and smiled down at his slightly baffled boyfriend. _I'm glad you approve,_ he said, without clarifying if he was talking about Yami's reaction to his advances or the restaurant, or perhaps both.

Yami stared up at his lover. Seto's expression was gentle, tender… and yet there was also a playful spark in those blue eyes. So he wasn't backing off; he was just slowing things down a bit. Yami nodded slowly. That was fine. There was no rush.

The ex-spirit sighed as Seto lowered himself back down and began lightly nipping at his throat. His eyes lazily focused on the sky above them, now a dusky pink and burnished gold in the rapidly fading light. Those twilight tones made him think of cheekbones kissed by a blossoming flush, of bare skin, warmed by a lover's touch…

He still found it hard to believe that their surroundings weren't real, neither the sky nor the lush foliage nor the serene water flowing around them. And yet, it wasn't simply an illusion either – even in this modern day mirage, there was still a sort of truth he could trust in. He could feel it dancing across his skin, like the wisps of air stirring about them; he could hear it in the thrumming of their hearts.

Once again his memory flickered like a flame licked by the wind, though this time it was so brief it wasn't an intrusion. If anything, it just made him appreciate what Seto was doing even more. Yami sighed again. His pants were becoming uncomfortably tight…

The brunette lifted his head and smiled ruefully. _While I'm sure neither one of us would complain at finishing the tour right here, there is one more thing I need to show you._

Yami blinked. What else could there be? Hadn't Seto already met – no, surpassed – all of his expectations?

Seto slowly rose to his feet and offered his hand to his boyfriend. "Trust me, it'll be worth it."

Yami quirked an eyebrow, then subtly adjusted his pants in response, earning him a snort of laughter.

The two of them ended up leaning on each other as Seto guided Yami to a path in the far corner of the dining room, hidden behind a tiled wall and obscured by heavy foliage. It was like discovering a forgotten trail in some ancient ruins. But Yami had to wonder… just how practical was a secret passageway in a public setting?

_Oh, believe me, it's quite practical,_ Seto assured him as they passed through yet another archway. Beyond the opening, Yami could just make out the shimmery spray of another waterfall…

"Almost there," Seto said aloud as he led Yami right through the stream of water. This one, unlike the others, had no misting device.

What lay on the other side was a private grotto with a single large dining table in the center of a stone platform completely surrounded by water.

"Is this the chef's table?" Yami asked in awe as he made his way over the rectangular stepping stones that led to the platform. The room was obviously located in a corner of the building; there was a great view out the windows, which had the same antireflective treatment as the other ones on the floor, rendering them almost invisible. But unlike the main dining rooms this one felt truly ethereal… and very, very secluded. Waterfalls sheeted down to form fluid, silvery curtains, then pooled onto the floor of the room before spilling off the edge in an infinity pool effect. It was as if they were surrounded by nothing more than the elements – earth, air and water. Such a beautiful dining room would be extremely popular with their target clientele… and that was _before_ taking into account both food and service!

"Chef's table? I suppose it could be, if you wanted to use it that way. But… I was thinking more along the lines of this being our private dining room."

"Ours?" It seemed a little weird to have a room solely for their use, but at the same time, Yami couldn't deny that that appealed to him, especially considering what they'd just been doing….

Seto smirked as he caught wind of that thought. "Don't know about you, but I don't like sitting in the middle of a crowded restaurant."

Yami couldn't resist. "Kai-baby, you don't even like eating."

"What are you, a comedian now? Besides…" and he leaned against the nearly invisible doorframe before drawling, "nothing says we have to _eat_ in here."

"What else does one do in a _dining_ room?" the shorter man asked sweetly.

Seto stalked towards him like a cat on the prowl, a less-than-innocent glimmer in his eyes. _You looked good earlier, lying on the floor beneath me._

_We could still be on the floor, but you wanted to take me in here..._

The double entendre made Seto grin. He reached out and pulled Yami close, hugging him. As much as he wanted to get laid, he wanted to revel in his accomplishment as well. And, as he reminded his annoying hormones, he wanted to do it slowly.

_(Lemon edited for ffnet – full version available on my site)_

They both ended up lying side by side on the floor, breathing heavily, but for once they weren't too mussed up. Seto rolled over onto his back and looked up at the illusionary sky that Yami had been admiring. A smug smirk settled on his face. He had to admit, if he didn't know better, even he'd be fooled… the details were that precise.

_Damn, I'm good,_ he told Yami without even thinking about it.

Yami gave a tired laugh and reached out a bit blindly to pat his lover's bare chest. _Yes, I'd say so…_

_Uh… that's not what I meant…_

_I know. But you're a man of many talents, Baby. _

Seto turned his head just enough to nuzzle Yami's hair. It was nice, just lying together, admiring the ceiling as the hologram continued changing colors, like a chameleon. The stars were beginning to peek out now, one by one, like tiny diamonds set against cobalt satin.

It suddenly occurred to him that he'd never really stargazed before, not really. He'd risked looking up at the night sky every now and then when he was much younger, but it had mostly been a waste of time, considering the effect of light pollution from the city lights. But it didn't feel new or unnatural to be lying there, stargazing with Yami. Maybe he had done it before, a very long time ago, back when stars were countless in the unspoiled Egyptian sky….

Yami smiled broadly. "Isn't there a rhyme about wishing on a star? Starlight, star bright… Well, I'm not sure how it goes…"

Seto pursed his lips. He vaguely had a clue what Yami was referring to, like a long forgotten memory, but it wasn't really congealing, probably because the practical side of his mind was now pointing out that making wishes on distant balls of hot gas made no sense. And those weren't even real balls of gas… just pixels representing them. But comments like that would just ruin the mood, so instead he asked, "Didn't you already get everything you wished for?"

"Everything and then some." Yami finally pushed himself up into a seated position, then twisted around, leaned over, and kissed his boyfriend. "Thank you, Seto."

Seto grunted, but it was an affectionate sound. "You don't need to thank me. I did this for both of us."

That made Yami very happy. Because Seto wasn't just thinking about Yami's happiness… he was taking himself into consideration as well. He was learning to care about himself. It really showed in the results…

"Mokuba and Noa aren't expecting us home soon, are they?" Seto asked. Well, he wouldn't be Seto Kaiba if he didn't worry about his brothers first and foremost.

"Nope."

"Good. Then just lie here with me."

"Okay," Yami said, and he lay back down, curling up in Seto's arms as the stars continued to multiply in a dazzling light show, for their eyes only, just for this night.

* * *

Author's Notes:  
- The omitted lemon-lime scene, as well as a collage of the tablewares used in this fic, can be found on my site (link in my ffnet profile).  
- This particular fic was something I've sat on for a long time. Practicality-wise, I'd thought it would work - a fine dining restaurant located in Kaiba Corp. HQ would have the advantage of a great location (especially if located on an upper floor for the view), and it'd be a profitable way to put the building and parking structure to good use during off hours. But... I had waffled on it because people wanted the restaurant to be Duel Monsters themed with Duel Monsters holograms, and I didn't want to do that. I wanted something more elegant and romantic, while still keeping the technological edge that KC is known for. Hopefully the end result is satisfactory for everyone!  
- And as always, thanks to Nenya85 for staying on top of me. "When are you going to finish it? When are you posting it?" Yup, that was the pushing that I needed.

_Reviews appreciated - thanks for reading!_


	2. Hitomi

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story takes place after chapter 1, "Skyview on the 69th."  
- Ages of characters in this story: Seto and Yami are 21, Noa and Mokuba are 16.

* * *

**Hitomi**

**Changes Series**

* * *

Jounouichi threw himself onto the sofa like a heavy sack of potatoes and waved off Honda's elbow of protest. The blonde was damn tired, and worse yet, it wasn't something even a few days off could fix…

He sighed. It just felt like life was becoming far too hectic for his liking. He wasn't like Seto or even Otogi, guys who thrived in the fast lane. He was a simple guy with simple needs. But sometimes life throws a curveball and you just have to man up and _deal._

He was going to be a father any day now. A _father_. He'd never been so simultaneously scared and thrilled before in his life.

Along with the baby came a lot of other changes. He and Mai had just finished moving out of their old one bedroom apartment a few weeks earlier – at least they'd found a larger unit in the same complex – and were still unpacking whenever they had a moment to spare. Not that he'd had any spare time lately. Between his jobs at the Kame Game Shop and as a mover in a moving company, he was now working up to 60 hours a week. That also meant he had no time or energy for school, not that he'd ever been scholastically inclined… He'd already accepted that he'd probably never obtain even an Associate's degree.

He knew he probably didn't have to go to such lengths. Even though Mai was a big spender, she made good money, a hell of a lot more than he did. She'd always been an independent woman too. Having a baby probably wasn't going to slow her down much. And Jou knew the whole idea of the man being the breadwinner and the wife a homemaker was an outdated notion. But he wanted to be a good husband and father; he wanted to be reliable, respectable and mature… He just hoped it'd be enough.

Sometimes he wondered what it was like living on easy street, like Yami. A big house, fast cars, credit cards that got paid off every month… it had to be nice, not worrying about the fact that a bigger apartment was $400 more a month and that medical insurance was no longer optional. Jou glanced over at his friend, then immediately felt bad for even thinking about it. Maybe Yami wasn't on a payroll, but that didn't mean he sat on his ass eating bonbons all day either. He wasn't a greedy guy. He'd sometimes help out at the old man's game shop for free. And he did a lot of work for Kaiba Corp., all behind the scenes; he had restaurants that he ran in Seto's name. Besides, Yami had to sleep next to Mr. Grouchypants McMoneybags himself every night, had to kiss him and stuff… Jou couldn't imagine torturing himself like that, not even for all the money in the _universe_!

Jou shook his head at the thought, as if to shake it out of his head, then looked over at Mai. If he had it his way, she'd be in the hospital was _that_ pregnant. He wouldn't ever say it to her face, but she looked like she was about to explode with babies. It wasn't a good thought. _Gah, why did I watch Alien again?_

He had wanted her to stay home and rest since she'd been complaining about everything from her back to her ankles hurting, but she had snapped at him and said that she didn't need him telling her what to do. Not wanting to upset her, he'd given in without a fight, but he still couldn't help but worry about her. He hated that he couldn't do anything to alleviate her various aches and pains.

"Man, I'd be a terrible pregnant lady," he mumbled aloud without realizing it.

"I think we all would," Honda loudly whispered back.

Mai turned from her converstion with Anzu and Shizuka and glared at them both. Jou swore that her sense of hearing was improving with every month of her pregnancy.

"So when are you guys going to decide on a name?" Anzu asked Jou, dragging him into the conversation even as the young man continued to squirm under his wife's glare.

"Well, I like Kichirou or Masaru…" Jou finally answered.

Anzu tried sounding out the names. "Isn't Kichirou Jounouichi a bit of a mouthful?"

"It doesn't matter, he can think up whatever he wants because it's going to be a girl," Mai shot back. It was a long running argument. The doctor had said it would be a boy but she was absolutely sure it was going to be a girl. Woman's intuition and all that. "Anyhow, we still haven't settled on a name… I'm leaning towards Megumi or Takara at the moment. But I'm not making a decision 'til she's OUT of here." She folded her hands and rested them on her tummy, settling the matter just like that.

Anzu smiled. She liked Mai… she was the closest thing she had to a big sister or cousin. So in a way, she'd be something of an aunt soon. Anzu was looking forward to that. Not only did she like babies, but it'd be good practice for that someday in the future when she'd be starting a family of her own.

The brunette girl glanced over at her boyfriend as he chatted with his grandfather, Otogi and Seto about special editions of video games or something like that. She felt her cheeks warm up slightly and looked away just as quickly. Even though they'd been dating for more than two years now, wasn't it still a bit premature to think about marriage or children? They hadn't even… well, done"it" yet. And she was still in school and so was Yugi. They were only 21. But then again, so was dad-to-be Jounouichi. And Seto and Yami too, despite the fact that they'd been raising two teenagers themselves…

Speaking of Yami, the former Pharaoh was now wandering over to join the gaming discussion. Anzu looked back in time to catch Seto's smile, to see him reach out and pull his boyfriend onto his lap. Yami wrapped his arms around Seto's neck and hugged him back, looking both smug and comfortable sitting on his perch.

Once upon a time, it would've hurt, seeing Yami giving his affections to someone else. But now her eyes sought out Yugi instead...

A lot had changed. Yugi would've once been overshadowed sitting amongst such strong personalities – even though he'd grown a little taller since high school, he was still the shortest in the group – but now he held his own with a quiet confidence and strength. Everyone liked him and respected him. But thankfully not everything had changed… What she'd loved about him all along was his cheerfulness and courage, his loyalty and thoughtfulness, and those qualities he retained in spades.

Of course Anzu did still like Yami… but as a dear friend, that was all. She too had changed, matured… and she now understood that the aggressive confidence and bad boy edge that had attracted her initially weren't the sort of qualities she wanted in a boyfriend. But perhaps that was what made him the right match for Seto.

Mai and Jounouichi were quite a pair too, even if it wasn't obvious at first glance to those who didn't know them. She was model beautiful and worldly, a sexy woman with expensive tastes. He was pretty much an average Joe. But she was also an avid gamer and a bit of a tomboy, as comfortable kicking back with a beer and a burger as she was dining in a Michelin rated restaurant – and that was what made their relationship work. And… she liked having someone to boss around… and Jou was the perfect, willing candidate…

As if confirming Anzu's assessment, the blonde woman lifted her hand and waved at her husband. Jou was immediately by her side. "Help me up, Pup. God, I can't tell anymore if I actually have to use the bathroom or not…" she complained in a low voice to no one in particular. She slipped Shizuka and Anzu an apologetic look. "If you'll excuse me…"

No one said anything until she had disappeared down the hallway. Then Honda nudged Jou and asked, "Um, when was she due again?"

Jou sighed. "Five days ago. Though the doc said it's not that unusual, bein' late, 'specially for a first pregnancy."

"And she's still walking around looking like _that_?" Seto queried.

"Like what that?" Jou asked.

"Dressed… like _that_," Seto said. For being the most… well, pregnant person in the room, Mai sure was the most scantily clad as well, in a hot pink surplice top with a neckline so low that it was amazing she hadn't had a wardrobe malfunction yet, and itsy bitsy short shorts. He acknowledged that it had been unseasonably warm the past few days, but still… that was an awful lot of skin to be flashing, pregnant or not.

Jou's nose wrinkled slightly. "What's wrong with it? I like it…"

"I'm sure most straight guys would," Seto blithely responded.

Jou bristled. Was Seto implying that she looked like a stripper or something? "Hmph, you're one to talk, considerin' you let you boyfriend walk around dressed like… THAT!" Jou stupidly threw back, pointing at Yami.

The former Pharaoh looked down at himself without thinking and considered the slashed up black top he was wearing. Nope, no nipple showing through the horizontal slash at the chest, nothing more than a few innocent slivers of sk… He jerked his head back up to glare at Jou. "Wait, _what?_"

"And why you checking her out anyhow?" Jou continued barking at Seto.

"He's gay. We notice these things," Malik loudly interrupted from across the room, sounding smug.

"I'm detail oriented. Don't lump me together with you," Seto snarled back.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Yami complained loudly, his crimson eyes flashing.

Jou blinked, then his earlier comment began to sink in. He'd been so eager to tell Seto off that he'd ended up insulting his friend instead. "Oh, sorry, man. I didn't mean… I'll just shut up now." He ducked his head, the sheepish expression on his face making him look like a young teen again. "Sorry."

Yami sighed. Why did he always get caught in the middle? "All right… I guess it's okay. And Seto…"

Seto frowned a little. "I wasn't insulting her," he quickly explained before his boyfriend got on his case. "She's just… I mean… Why isn't she in the hospital already?"

"I can't just toss her in there you know. They don't want to admit her unless she's like, already in labor."

"Maybe you should insist on it then."

Jou gave a half shrug. "B'sides, I'm not sure if insurance would cover all that. It'd be damn expensive if it don't."

"I hardly think this is the time to be cheap," Seto said, disapproval in his voice.

"Cheap? Not all of us are made of money, you jerk!"

"You think I don't know…"

"Now Seto, Jounouichi…" Sugoroku interjected, trying to cool things down a little. At least Jou and Seto were throwing words around instead of punches. And a bit of bantering between the two of them was perfectly normal. But he didn't want to risk things getting out of hand.

"If it's really a matter of money, we can loan you whatever you need, Jou," Yami offered while lightly rubbing the back of Seto's neck. It was obvious, at least to him, that his boyfriend was worried about Mai as well… he just wasn't doing a good job of conveying it.

Jou quickly glanced at Seto, but despite the fact that they'd just been arguing, the tall brunette didn't seem surprised, nor did he protest. He had a sort of bland expression, like he wasn't sure how to best handle the situation.

"I appreciate you offerin', but I have my pride too, you know," the blonde finally replied in a much calmer tone of voice. "Like you remember that time when I dueled Rex at Duelist Kingdom, and I told you to let me stand on my own? But…"

"Pride? Fuck that. Your family matters more," Seto opined, his voice clipped.

It was almost funny hearing the young billionaire say that, especially with that look on his face. But for once, Jou agreed with him. He smirked. "Ya didn't let me finish. I'm not a fool neither. If I need help, I know where to turn. Assuming the offer still stands."

"Of course," Yami assured him. "Even if you don't like what I'm wearing," he slyly added with a chuckle.

"Oh man…" Jounouichi groaned as everyone else laughed. _Me and my big mouth! _He was never going to live that comment down.

* * *

While everyone else returned to their conversations in the family room, Mai was just trying to get out of the bathroom. Of course she hadn't had to go, just like she'd thought, but she just couldn't tell anymore, and it was really starting to annoy her.

_Who'd have thought that standing up could be such a chore? _she asked herself as she struggled to push herself upright. It seemed to take forever.

After wasting an additional minute getting her shorts back on, she waddled over to the sink. While washing her hands, she took a long, good look at herself in the mirror.

_I suppose I should feel fortunate that I've only really gained weight where the baby is,_ she sighed as she twisted in front of the mirror. _That, and my chest… 'course Katsuya's pretty happy about that. But my legs are still pretty good, even if my ankles are swelling a bit, and my face isn't bloated… Oh, who am I kidding? I'm the size of a house. I feel fat._

Pregnancy didn't suit her. She missed wearing whatever she wanted, doing whatever she wanted. That made her nervous about being a mother too. What if she wasn't cut out for motherhood? It wasn't like they had planned on having a baby. Actually, they'd never seriously discussed it before. What if she ended up like her parents, distant and disinterested? And… she'd worked hard for her career too. Was she going to have to give that up, just like she had to give up her beloved Peugeot convertible for a more family friendly sedan?

She sighed. She did want to do the right things and be a good mother. She was just having a hard time getting maternal over something she couldn't even see yet. Even when the baby kicked like she was in a chorus line, it was hard to imagine there was a tiny human being in there.

"Huh…?" That was odd. She'd just felt something give. It definitely wasn't a kick, but it felt like something had… popped? And there was now some sort of fluid dribbling down the insides of her legs. Her first horrified thought was that she'd lost bladder control, but then it occurred to her that it might be something even more unexpected.

_Is it possible... my water broke? Am I going into labor? _she asked herself as she tried to check where exactly the fluid was coming from. Her mind began to race. She'd read a lot of articles and magazines and booklets about what to expect from every stage of pregnancy all the way through birth, but reading about it and being in the midst of it were totally different things.

She exhaled, hard. "Get a hold of yourself, girl. Calm down." Panicking wasn't going to do any good. At least she wasn't actually in the middle of giving birth. There weren't any contractions yet. The baby wasn't going to suddenly fall out of her onto the floor of Seto's bathroom…

"Okay, I need to call up the doctor and find out what to do. Or… well, I need to tell Katsuya first. Then the doctor… I hope Katsuya doesn't just freak out though; that'd be no help! And geez, should I sit or stand?" she grumbled, grabbing the hand towel to try and dam the flow of fluid.

She finally settled on remaining standing since she didn't want to go through having to try and stand up again if she were to sit down. Plus she didn't really want to sit in her damp shorts. She also decided to try and get someone else's attention first – maybe Anzu's – since Jou was a pretty spastic kind of guy and would probably go bananas, and watching him freak out would NOT help matters at all. And maybe he'd take it better sitting down, hearing it from a friend.

Decision made, Mai shuffled to the door and opened it a crack. She could see and hear her friends down the hallway in the family room, but there wasn't anyone particularly close to the door. Biting her lip slightly, she decided to try and get Shizuka's attention since she could see her clearly through the doorway. The last thing she wanted to do was to alert the whole gang to her predicament, though that result might be unavoidable…

"Psst! Pssst!" Mai hissed, growing a little louder with each attempt.

Shizuka didn't immediately hear her, but when she finally did, she looked around, a little confused, until she saw Mai waving at her from the restroom. At first she thought of waving back, then she realized… something was up.

"What is it? Are you okay?" the younger woman asked once she reached the bathroom. "Should I go get Onii-san?"

"No. Well, yes, but… I uh… I think my water broke."

"What? Are you going into labor?" Shizuka gasped loudly before Mai could hush her.

"You're going into labor?" Anzu echoed from the family room, and just like a wildfire, the news immediately spread around the room.

"No, I'm not!" Mai yelled back, but no one seemed to hear her over the sudden din.

Mortified, the blonde woman shut the door as the entire gang converged in the hallway outside the bathroom. She could hear her husband barking, "Hey, call an ambulance!" and someone – Sugoroku, most likely – suggesting that they call the doctor first.

"Yeah, if someone could call my doctor, that'd be great," Mai agreed. "I really don't think I'm in eminent danger of delivering or anything. But I'm not one hundred percent sure on what I'm supposed to do next, either."

"See? I told you she said she's not in labor, stupid!" Seto yelled at Jou as the blonde once again insisted that they needed the paramedics.

"But she could be, at any moment! And I don't remember the doc's number either!" Jou wailed.

Seto growled. He couldn't believe how inept Jou was sometimes. And this man was about to become a father? "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you have it on your cellphone?"

Jou fumbled for his phone, staring at it blankly for a second before realization dawned on him. "Huh? Oh… yeah! I do!"

As Jou finally began making the call, Sugoroku managed to edge closer to the door and knocked lightly on the frame. "Mai, is there anything you need?" he asked as calmly as he could. As the only "adult" there he felt like it was up to him to maintain control. He didn't want her to get too worked up or nervous just because everyone else was. Until they received further instruction, the best thing for her to do was to stay as calm and comfortable as possible.

"Um… towels?"

The old man passed the request on to Yami, then turned back to the door. "Anything else? Are you thirsty? Is there anything in your bag or your car that we can bring you?"

"Uh… well, can you… not have everyone screaming outside the door?"

Sugoroku looked to the left and right. As fond as he was of all of Yugi's friends, they certainly were… well, he couldn't help but think of them as a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. He swallowed a sigh, then cleared his throat and said in his sternest voice, "All right, that's it! Everyone out of the hallway!"

The gang continued clucking as Sugoroku herded them back into the family room – nothing was going to shut them up until this was all over – but at least they weren't all huddled around the bathroom anymore. Jou, still on the phone, had automatically followed everyone else, but when Honda finally noticed where he was, he physically spun his friend around and told him, "What are you doing? Get back to Mai, dummy!"

Jou blinked at him, went, "Oh shit!" and ran back to the bathroom.

By the time he'd gotten back to his wife, Yami was there too, with an armload of towels. Mai had partially opened the door to allow him to pass them to her.

"Uh, um, the doc has some questions for you!" Jou told her, thrusting the phone at her before she had a chance to shut the door again.

She accepted it, covering the mouthpiece for a moment. "Mmhmm… Now _stay_, okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry." Jou planted both his feet firmly on the ground, in case he suddenly felt the urge to wander away again. "And don't you worry, we'll get through this!"

Mai gave him a small smile, then shut the door again.

Yami looked over at Jou, who seemed both shaken and awestruck, then joined him in leaning against the wall. "Mai seems okay for the moment, so is there anything that you need?"

"I dunno. I haven't a clue. Doc told me to stay calm. I think she's gotta go to the hospital, but it's not an emergency? She's just gotta go…" Jou babbled loudly.

Obviously Mai heard him, because the door opened again. She stepped out, a beach towel now loosely wrapped around her waist, and handed him his phone back. "Yeah, we better get going," she said, her voice almost a whisper in contrast to Jou's. "The doctor says they'll probably want to induce labor if I haven't shown any other signs of progressing by the time we get checked in, so…"

Jou was breathing like he was in a Lamaze class. "'Kay. This is it, then? Guess I should say good night to everyone…"

"Make it fast," Mai told him. He immediately ran off and began screaming his goodbyes. The blonde woman couldn't help but shake her head a little before turning to the one remaining person in the hallway. "And Yami… um, sorry about any mess in there. I tried to clean up a little, but…"

"Don't worry about it," Yami assured her. Although she'd sounded calm, her eyes betrayed her nervousness. "Take care, and I hope everything goes smoothly. And… I already told Jou this, but… if you need anything, call us, okay?"

Mai smiled. She was truly grateful; she couldn't imagine going through all of this without having good friends by her side. "Thanks. Well, I guess this is it. Can you believe it? Next time you see me, I'll be a mother."

* * *

The rest of the gang gradually left after Jou and Mai's sudden departure. There wasn't much anyone could think of to talk about other than the imminent birth, but with the parents-to-be off to the hospital, the conversation felt a little lopsided and awkward.

In the end, only Sugoroku, Seto and Yami were left in the mansion's large family room. Even Noa and Mokuba had said their good nights and left for bed. Yugi might have stayed, but he had needed to drive Anzu home, so he'd told his grandfather that he'd be back to pick him up in a little bit and said goodbye to everyone else.

It was getting late. It had also grown silent. Yet Yami and Seto sat there and kept the old man company, even though they'd run out of things to say. Sugoroku got up to get a refill on his tea, then returned to find that nothing had changed. He began fiddling with his mug. He couldn't stand it being so quiet. He wished he could think of something to talk about.

"So…" he slowly began, his voice sounding a bit too loud in the stillness of the night, "It'll be different, having a baby around on Friday nights…"

Seto gave a small grunt, but didn't say anything.

"I wonder if Mai's right, that it'll be a girl. You'd think with technology nowadays, the doctors would be right all the time."

Still no go. Yami gave a small, polite smile, shrugged, and that was it.

"So have either one of you ever thought about having children?" Sugoroku pressed, grasping for a topic, any topic, that hadn't been talked about to death.

"Oh sure. Let me go impregnate Yami right now," Seto sarcastically responded without thinking.

Yami punched him in the shoulder, almost hard enough to bruise. "Sorry, my hand slipped," he said while rolling his eyes.

Sugoroku just shook his head at their antics. At least conversation had started back up again; that was a relief. Seto especially had seemed a bit uneasy earlier, and that had worried him. "Of course you can't have children together biologically speaking. But I was just curious if it's something you've ever discussed?"

They hadn't. At least, it hadn't ever really crossed Seto's mind. So he took a minute to think it over, and another to consider if he really wanted to answer, then said in a low voice, "Raising Mokuba – and Noa… is the best thing I've ever done. But I don't know if…"

Sugoroku nodded. He understood what Seto was saying, even if he couldn't fully voice it. He remembered his own despair at losing his only child after his wife's death a few years prior. Having Yugi had been the only consolation in the darkest time of his life. Mokuba meant just as much to Seto. But as much as Seto loved his brothers, it had to have been so draining for someone so young to dedicate himself so completely to someone else's happiness and well being…

"Of course if I had to, I would," the tall brunette added softly. "With no regrets."

It suddenly occurred to Seto that he'd answered without a clue as to how Yami felt. And it was a pretty big issue to make assumptions about. He guiltily glanced at his lover, but Yami immediately set his mind at ease.

"Although I like things as they are, you know I'll support any decision you make. I'll always stand by you, as well as our friends," Yami said sincerely.

Sugoroku sat back and carefully considered what the young billionaire had said, what Yami had implied. He knew them both well enough to understand what was bothering Seto. In a way, it was a good thing… Seto understood what friendship was now. He saw value in it. He cared. And given his family history, it made sense – he couldn't help but worry. "She'll be all right, Seto," he tried to reassure him. "She's been doing very well thus far from what I've seen."

"But there's no guarantees in life," Seto retorted.

"That's true. Sometimes all we can do is lend our support and hope for the best."

The elderly shopkeeper sounded a little like Yami, both in what he was saying and the reassuring tone of his voice. Seto snorted at the thought. He didn't like what Sugoroku had said, but he gave a curt nod anyway, acknowledging it as the truth. He just hated feeling helpless, regardless of the situation.

Sugoroku stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I'll tell you what. Let's go to the hospital together, once the baby is born."

"I don't like hospitals," was Seto's knee jerk response. He sounded like a bratty kid. But both Sugoroku and Yami were pleased that he was comfortable enough with them – as well as his past – to have mentioned it at all.

"Yes, I know. But you should come along, regardless," Yami told him.

"I didn't say I wouldn't! I'm just… never mind. It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters. I know… this isn't easy for you. But I think you'll feel a lot better if you go and see for yourself that everything is fine."

Seto didn't think of himself a pessimist. But at the same time, it was hard being optimistic in certain situations. He wanted to believe in what Yami had said. And he knew he was being unreasonable – Sugoroku was right, Mai had been doing just fine. She hadn't had to be carted off in an ambulance, crying out in pain. And it wasn't his place to fret over her anyhow. But he just couldn't shake off the concern that plagued his thoughts.

"I'm sure Jou will keep us informed every step of the way. And if he does need help, he knows he can count on us. Like he said, he's no fool…"

Seto was sorely tempted to contradict his lover's assessment of the blonde duelist, but he held his tongue. For once, he hoped that he was wrong about him.

* * *

The next day brought about a steady stream of phone calls and emails. Everyone wanted status updates. Seto could hardly get any work done.

But he couldn't deny his relief when, early that afternoon, Yami informed him via mind link that Mai had given birth to a baby girl. And yes, both mother and child were fine – the delivery had gone smoothly and there were no complications to speak of at all.

After a little more back and forth communication, Seto agreed to accompany his brothers, Yami and Sugoroku to the hospital the next morning. That would give Mai a bit of a chance to rest and recuperate… and give Yami the opportunity to think about what little gifts he could bring to congratulate the new parents, since Seto being wasn't much help. Sure, the brunette had made some suggestions, but a bag of dog biscuits and a puppy training book were definitely NOT appropriate!

The former Pharaoh eventually settled on a bouquet of cosmos for Mai, and, as a nod to Seto, a dozen doughnuts for Jounouichi. He told his grandfather about it too, and the elderly man was so tickled by it, he suggested a shop and asked if he could come along to select doughnuts.

So the next morning, after stopping by the florists, Yami and the Kaibas picked up Sugoroku before heading to the doughnut shop. Between Sugoroku's sense of humor and Seto's… well, Seto being Seto, they ended up with an oddball assortment of treats with names like "the gay bar" and "triple chocolate penetration." All Mokuba and Noa could do was shake their heads at the silliness of it all, but even they had to admit, it was good seeing Seto a bit more at ease since he'd been rather tightly wound the day before.

Gifts in hand, they finally arrived at the hospital. Only Yami noticed Seto's very slight hesitation as they walked into the lobby; his stride was still as long as it normally was. He was also being as authoritative as usual, leading the way to the maternity ward, then asking at the desk for Mai's room number.

As they approached the assigned room, a woman with curly hair stepped out just as they were about to enter. She paused, then smiled politely and nodded before walking away. She wasn't a nurse, but there was something familiar about her. The color of her hair and eyes were similar to Shizuka's…

They didn't really have time to think about it more, because as soon as they walked in, there was Mai, waving slowly at them, and Jou, cradling his newborn daughter in his arms.

"Congratulations!" Sugoroku, Yami, Mokuba and Noa chorused. Seto just exhaled before managing to pull himself enough together to smile.

"Hey guys!" Jou said, beaming from ear to ear. Whatever worries or doubts he'd had about fatherhood were obviously gone. Yami thought that he'd never seen his friend look prouder or happier in his life. "Well, lemme introduce ya. Everyone, this is Hitomi." He managed to unwrap the bundle in his arms just enough to reveal a scrunched up, tiny face topped with a few fine tufts of strawberry kissed blonde hair. "And Hitomi-chan, these are our friends… Yami, Mokuba, Noa, Kaiba, and Jii-chan. Jii-chan's not really my grandpa, but I guess he's like…everyone's grandpa. Guess that makes all you guys her uncles too?"

"Something like that," Mai told him. Not surprisingly, she sounded tired.

Sugoroku smiled sympathetically at her. "You did well. She's really beautiful. Here…" He handed her the flowers as Yami opened the box of doughnuts for Jou to see before setting them on the back table.

"Mmm, doughnuts…"

"Thank you." Mai dipped her head in a nod, then asked softly, "Would you like to hold her? Katsuya…"

"Sure thing." The blonde man got up, walked over, and carefully placed his daughter in Sugoroku's arms. With his hands now free, Jou wandered to the back table, grabbed two doughnuts, and promptly began stuffing them in his face. "Man, how'd you guys know I'd be hungry?"

"You're always hungry," Noa muttered under his breath.

It'd been a long time since the old man had held a baby. But as soon as Hitomi landed in his arms, he remembered exactly what to do, as if Yugi had been a baby only yesterday. "Well, look at you!" he cooed, securely cradling the infant while everyone peered over his shoulders for a better look at her.

_She looks like a raisin,_ Yami privately commented to Seto as Hitomi squinted back at them.

The brunette smirked. _Haven't been around babies much? They all look like that, Yami._

"She kinda looks like your sister, sorta," Noa remarked. Well, not that Shizuka looked all squished like that. But the hair color was right.

Jou nodded. "Yeah, I think so too. Or my mom, I guess. She was leavin' just when ya guys got here," he said, gesticulating at the door with a maple and bacon bar.

"Oh? That's the lady we ran into then…" Mokuba mumbled.

"Are you okay with that?" Yami asked Jou in a low voice.

Jou paused, then shrugged. "We'll see. Maybe she wants to be a grandma or something. Nothin' wrong with that, I guess." He paused again, a little longer this time, then continued on to say, "My mom was here first thing this mornin'. But my dad's been a no-show even though he's just a mile or two away. Maybe it's better that way if my mom's hanging around, ya know?"

No one said anything for a minute, then Sugoroku said, "It'll work out, one way or another. I'm glad you're trying to keep an open mind about it. That's the right thing… the mature thing to do."

Jou brightened up a little. "See, that's why ya gotta listen to Jii-chan," he told his daughter, lightly tapping her nose, leaving behind a bit of icing which he quickly swiped away with a laugh.

"It's amazing how tiny she is," Mokuba said wondrously. Seto glanced over upon hearing the comment and it occurred to him, neither Mokuba nor Noa had been around babies much. Now that he thought about it, had Mokuba ever even held one before? There had been a nursery at the orphanage, but of course they'd been a long way from infancy by the time they'd landed there.

"She's not so tiny when you're the one giving birth," Mai sighed. Not that she expected any sympathy from a room full of men.

"Would you like to hold her?" Sugoroku asked, turning towards the black-haired teen.

"Um… sure, I guess. I'm not sure what to do though."

Sugoroku chuckled. "Main thing to remember is to support her head. Just hold your arms like this, and…" A bit of shifting around, and Mokuba suddenly had a baby in his arms. "Yup, just like that!"

"Wow, this is… weird. Uh, who's next?"

Mokuba ended up awkwardly passing Hitomi to Noa, who nervously handed her off to Yami as she began squirming. Yami pursed his lips as he struggled to get a good grip on the baby, even though he had her balanced on his lap. It was just too odd… on one hand, she was heavier than he'd expected, and was soft and squishy like a bag of warmed gelatin. On the other, he was afraid to hold her too tightly, even though it felt like she'd slide right out of his grasp.

Seto couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Who would've thought that, out of everyone in the room, Yami would be the one most out of his element?

"I can't help it,"Yami grumbled as Seto stepped in to relieve him. "I thought… well, I thought it'd be more like holding a puppy or something?"

"It's a baby, not a puppy. Though in this case, maybe 'puppy' would do," Seto joked as he cradled the infant with ease. But despite the implied insult, his voice had softened. And he had begun to instinctively rock the baby, almost without realizing it.

"You bastard, give me back my kid!" Jou growled.

"Don't yell at me. You're going to startle her," Seto calmly told him as he lifted Hitomi to his shoulder. He shifted his hand a little to touch his cheek to the back of her head and wondered what it was about babies that made them smell like… well, babies. "Besides, Yami said it first."

"I didn't mean it like that, Seto."

"True, but I'm starting to like it. What do you think, Puppy?" he asked the baby. She made a burbling sound at him.

"Grrr… Kaiba…!"

Seto just shrugged and handed Jounouichi his daughter back. The blonde man continued to glare at him. "What? Mai's not objecting."

Mai laughed. She knew Seto meant no harm by it. "So now I have a Pup and a Puppy?"

"Geez, Mai!" Jou groaned. He didn't get why she thought it was funny. _Damn Kaiba! _He couldn't believe he'd already saddled his kid with a stupid nickname; she was only a day old!

"At least you didn't have a litter," Noa joked. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Ugh, no. One's enough… at least for now."

Jou began nodding in agreement, then the entirety of Mai's comment sank in. "Wait… _for now?"_

* * *

Author's Notes:_  
_- Baby name note 1. Jou's name choices were Kichirou (lucky) and Masaru (victory). I couldn't resist names that I thought Jounouichi would like as a duelist. Mai's choices were Megumi (blessing) and Takara (treasure). They ended up settling on Hitomi, which means "pupil of the eye."  
- Baby name note 2. I named Hitomi after Hitomi Kanzaki, the heroine of "Vision of Escaflowne." I think her general look and demeanor matches what I'd imagine Hitomi Jounouichi growing up to be like.  
- Re: Mai's car. Not an expert on cars of course, but I looked closely at the manga and it does appear to me that she drives a Peugeot coupe of some sort. They're not sold in the US so it was harder for me to ID it.  
- Re: doughnut names. All are real doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnuts. I liked the names too much to simply go with plain doughnuts : )  
- And as always, thanks to Nenya85 for betaing and making me think!

_Reviews appreciated - thanks for reading!_


	3. Legends of Duel Monsters

Disclaimer:Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. Cyclops is the property of Marvel Comics. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story takes place after chapter 2 of Changes, "Hitomi."  
- Ages of characters in this story: Seto and Yami are 21, Noa and Mokuba are 16.

Additional notes:  
- This fic uses some MMORPG terminology... the glossary is at the bottom, above the Author's Notes. However I don't think it's necessary to understand all the terms in order to read this. A person new to the game would see the dialogue just the way I wrote it. If you read it with that mindset, you'll be fine.  
- The opening and closing dialogues are written as if players are conversing in an in-game chat.

* * *

**Legends of Duel Monsters**

**Changes Series**

* * *

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(Tefa_bob): has ne1 seen the king

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(IKillThings): He's in the throne room stupid

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(Tefa_bob): no he's not i'm right here and he's not n i have a quest to turn in

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(Mistyy): Is the Blue Eyes dragon there?

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(Tefa_bob): no

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(IKillThings): Then he's probably out playing footsie with that other king

* * *

Contrary to what the players talking in the Glacier's Edge chat had said, the Dragoon emperor Seiryuu –Seto Kaiba's toon – was not "playing footsie" with his fellow king. What he was doing was gathering forces in the mountains of Pandemonium outside of Gilfer, capital city of the Daemon archetype in the Legends of Duel Monsters MMORPG.

It was a combination of boredom and mischief that was driving him to lead a raid on an enemy city. Boredom, because it was the week between Christmas and New Year's, a week where Kaiba Corp.'s corporate office was closed. And mischief, because the cool thing about being the owner of said MMORPG was that he could do anything he wished within the boundaries of said game. In that sense, he was truly a king within the game's world. They all were.

Seto looked around the project table where they'd set their computers up, then looked back at his screen. It was a little funny… they were physically seated in the same order their characters were lined up in.

Yami was sitting to his right, leaning back in his chair as his character, the Sky Scourge high warlock Suzaku, idled on his Blue Eyes White Dragon mount next to Seiryuu. Seto was pleased with how Suzaku – and the Sky Scourge as a whole – had come out, thanks to Yami's influence. Given that they'd started out with the Duel Monsters type "Fairy," which had been the butt of many developers' jokes, they'd ended up with something darker and far cooler – blind fallen angels that dabbled in dark magics.

To his left were Noa, playing the half-man, half-beast Gladial king named Byakko, and Mokuba, playing Genbu, holy lady of the Mystic Elves. And it looked like Noa was toggling his avatar's "king" status on and off, going from an unkillable silver and black maned white tiger, to Highwind, a normal ranger class toon with a standard golden lion skin and burgundy Big Tusked Mammoth mount.

Going incognito was a pretty nifty way to allow them to experience the game as normal players… at least, for the most part. Players had already figured out who they were because Seto, Yami and Pegasus had opted out – that is, they only played their kings as kings – and so anyone with half a brain soon realized that the members of the guild "Royal Decree" were associated with Kaiba Corp. or Industrial Illusions.

… That, and the fact that "Royal Decree" was the only cross-faction guild, having members from both the Lightsworn and Guardian alliances.

Beneath the wings of the Blue Eyes White Dragons other guild members continued to gather, some just idling until the start of the raid, others dueling in one form or another. Yugi was on a Mystic Elf, like Mokuba; his grandfather had opted for a Dragoon, like Seto. They'd conjured up a table between them for a card game or two, but were both marked AFK at the moment; perhaps there were customers in the shop. Meanwhile, Honda's Daemon ranger was trying to goad Jou's Gladial brawler to a physical duel. Mai and Anzu were both playing Harpies, watching from the sidelines while Jou promptly got schooled. And all around them were their various assistant companions – from rainbow colored Kuriboh brothers to the brooding Hyena, the creepy Monster Eye to the cuddly white Rescue Cat. There were also pink Testudo and yellow Gora Turtles from the limited edition sold by the Kame Game Shop and a die wielding imp from Skull Dice, from the special edition sold by Otogi's Black Crown stores.

"So we're just waiting for everyone in America to log on then?" Mokuba asked once he'd finished checking over their raid group. It was a bit haphazard since they were just taking along whomever wanted to go, but it'd do. And if it wasn't enough, well, Seto wasn't above… stacking the deck in their favor to make things go his way, the obvious advantage of being the one who'd programmed the game in the first place.

"Looks like," Noa answered.

"It seems weird that they're going to be raiding their own capital city with us," Mokuba commented.

"Maybe Pegasus has it out for that lackey of his," Seto threw out. Each king had a chancellor of some sort that was killable by opposing players. Yami had gone with the obvious and created his own variant of the Dark Magician, though he also looked a bit like a security officer named Mahad who was a recent hire. Seto, Mokuba and Noa had made up their own characters, though the NPCs were too similar to Kisara Shiroi, Isono and Fubeta for it to have been coincidental. Seto still wasn't sure why he'd chosen to model his chief advisor after his junior secretary… all he knew was, it just seemed right.

"I guess you can ask him yourself, 'cause he just logged on. Hi," Yami said into the mouthpiece of his headset once he spotted the unimaginatively named Daemon archfiend Pegasus in their guild list.

"Well hello all! What a wonderful evening. Are we ready to rock my world?" Pegasus asked cheerfully.

"Thanks for volunteering. Your faction is going to hate you," Noa dryly responded.

"Well these _are_ your little guinea pigs, hmm?" Pegasus drawled.

"They knew what they were signing up for," Seto finally replied. And that was the truth. No one got onto the server "Devil's Sanctuary" accidentally… there was an application process. Players had to agree to all sorts of terms and conditions but in exchange, they knew they were going to get to play with the head programmers and developers of the game itself, a privilege worth a few… inconveniences. Like the one gathering outside Gilfer's walls.

Okay, so they were bored and looking to do a little damage. But on the other hand, there was a more practical purpose behind the raid as well – Seto had planned to implement random world events to spice things up in the game. Nothing like a healthy dose of Pestilence unleashed upon the populace or an invasion of stampeding, mindless Fossil Tuskers to add some variety and keep players on their toes. So an enemy raid with a few extra twists thrown in wasn't a bad way to test out how a random event would work out in terms of server capacity and player involvement and reactions.

"So think of it as a late Christmas present?" Yugi asked as he switched back to active mode. "Sorry about that. Boy, the shop is _busy_."

"But that's a good thing," Yami cheerfully told him, though even he had to admit it was probably a bit overwhelming for his other half and his grandfather. But the old man had been worried about the shop's finances earlier that year… Seto's decision to release a special edition of the MMO especially for the shop had truly been a godsend. That single item had brought in more money than everything else combined for the year.

"Yes… but we'd like to raid too!" Sugoroku interjected with a laugh. "Oh… another customer…"

"Are they there to watch or to buy?" Mokuba had to ask. The shop now boasted a new giant flat screen – once again, courtesy of Seto – that cycled through a catalog of product pitches, but could also be patched into a special in-game "camera-bot" that allowed the shop's customers to watch a live LoDM feed. In essence, he'd managed to give them the ability to play and promote his game at the same time.

"Don't worry, we'll wait for you," Seto promised.

Yami smiled. There weren't many people Seto would say that to.

"Jii-chan, if ya need me, ya know I'll come in," Jou volunteered over his headset. He had taken the week off, intending on spending some quality time with his family, but was now realizing just how bad his timing was… He hadn't expected the shop to be *that* busy after Christmas!

"No, absolutely not. Yugi and I are handling it. Enjoy your week off with your wife and new baby," Sugoroku firmly told him.

"So we're just busting through Pegasus' city and that's that? Or we're taking them all down?" Yugi popped back on to ask.

"We'll start with Gilfer, and decide after that," Seto said, before adding with an impish chuckle, "though if all goes well, I don't think we'll want to hit the other cities."

* * *

At first the players scattered throughout the city thought little to nothing of the warning cries of the city guards. The game was still relatively new – there were few high level players with decent gear – so they'd only been faced with one or two invaders struggling to make it through the city gates, only to get flattened by the guards.

The first sign that this was not one of those attacks were four Blue Eyes White Dragons suddenly soaring in overhead, their heads drawing back, and then the sight of them unleashing white hot lightning into the central square of the city. Seto wasn't trying to make it "fair;" any toons unfortunate enough to be standing out in the open at that moment got instantly obliterated.

"Ah, that got a reaction," Valon said, laughing as he saw the city's chat suddenly fill up with confused players trying to figure out what had happened and why. And to think, they hadn't even begun the ground assault yet…

Mokuba looked at the screen, down to the city's walkways from his character's mounted vantage point. There were clumps of faintly shimmering particles on the ground – the only lingering trace of the many toons that had fallen to the dragons' attack. Other players, the more fortunate ones at the moment, were now poking their heads out of buildings and scurrying about like panicked ants. It seemed a little unfair; players couldn't even get flying mounts. There wasn't any way for them to fight back.

But a glance over at his brother made him feel better about it. Seto was grinning broadly as his dragon swooped down and blasted anything that moved. And it really was just a game, wasn't it? No one was actually dying in the barrage of lightning-charged dragon's breaths. The "corpses" on the ground were just temporary… with as little as the click of a button players could easily bring their toons back to life.

Somewhere along the way, Seto had learned that games weren't all about survival, with real life consequences that meant life or death. Somewhere along the way, he – and Yami and Noa and Mokuba too - had learned to play without penalties, for the sake of fun and nothing more.

That didn't mean they weren't still competitive people though. They'd always be that way. That was something in their blood; they all hated losing. Which was probably why playing the actual leaders in the game appealed to them so much.

"Is it our turn? Is it?" Valon asked eagerly, fearing that if they waited any longer that they'd miss out on all the action. But just like Seto had hoped, more players were showing up in the city by the minute, including many higher level ones, called into action by their besieged brethren.

Seto's BEWD flew back up, accompanied by Noa and Mokuba's. "Go ahead."

Immediately the quartet of Firewing Pegasi, the Guardians' leaders' mounts, broke through the cloud cover and took over the fight, deadly flames sparking from their hooves. Valon and Amelda dismounted as soon as they were within a few yards of the ground, opting to fight hand-to-hand, with Rafael soon following suit, but Pegasus couldn't resist taking his flaming mount right into some of the larger buildings, making it even harder for players to find refuge.

"The rest of you can start your charge as well," Seto instructed Yugi, Jou and the others. Satisfied with how things were progressing, he then muted his headset and told his brothers, "The Dimensionholes are working as intended. And so far the servers seem to be handling the extra traffic and clutter pretty well."

Noa nodded in agreement. "So I guess we can go ahead and schedule another test for prime playing hours to really stress test for lag and loading issues."

"Yeah. Can't wait," Seto said with a grin as he watched more players pouring in through the Dimensionholes, only to get put to sleep by Shizuka's bard's song or ravaged by Otogi's Twin Headed Wolf mount. Yami's dragon swept in for additional support while the Doom trio split up and spread out through the smaller paths and alleyways that branched off the main square, sparing only the impenetrable sanctuary beneath Pegasus' palace.

"Mokuba, go ahead with the in-game mail explaining the test to the players and compensating them for their 'participation,'" Seto said after several more minutes of consideration. "Set it so they receive it in about an hour and a half."

"You know, we might not even have to compensate them. Look…" and Noa pointed to another program he had running that monitored server traffic. Proportionally more players were logging on to "Devil's Sanctuary" than any other server at the moment. "Word gets around, I guess."

Seto looked from Noa's screen, then back at his own. "They're voluntarily becoming cannon fodder?" Shimmering clouds from hundreds of fallen avatars were littering the streets – Seto wondered if he ought to tone down the effect because it was beginning to look like everyone was wading through stardust – and yet more players kept appearing via Dimensionhole and Back to Square One, on mounts and on foot. There was even enough of an organized defense force now that Yugi and the others had been taken down and were themselves running back from the graveyard or playing cards like Monster Reborn and Soul Rope to speed up the process of getting back into the fight.

It hadn't occurred to him that the players would enjoy being tested on, that they'd want to participate, despite having agreed to the terms of playing on the server. But now that the initial shock of the invasion had worn off, many of them seemed to be throwing themselves into the fray with determination and vigor and encouraging others to do the same.

Seto rested his chin on folded hands, then shrugged. "On second thought, Mokuba… hold off on that mail. I'll come up with a new one…. later." He got back on his computer, back on his toon, and began maneuvering his dragon into place for another assault. "I'm going in for another round. You guys with me?"

"Did you really have to ask?" Noa asked as his dragon began dropping closer to the ground.

Mokuba's dragon suddenly shot past them both. "Less talk, more pewpew, slowpokes!"

"Damn." And Seto had thought he'd been eager to get back into the thick of things. With a laugh, he and Noa took off after Mokuba, trying to overtake him even as all three of their dragons began unleashing destruction once more on the besieged city below.

* * *

The raid was originally slated to last a half-hour, but everyone was having so much fun that they'd lost track of time. It wasn't until baby Hitomi woke up from her nap that they'd realized just how long they'd been playing. Jou and Mai bowed out to tend to their daughter, then Yugi left to focus on the customers in the shop. Then Rafael said he had a cold and was feeling under the weather, and that was pretty much it. The Kaibas made sure their friends safely escaped from the city, thanked everyone for their help, then logged off their toons.

In the end, they'd never made it to the other capital cities. But Seto was pleased – they'd gotten a lot of data out from the raid, and better yet, a quick check of the latest posts on the forums showed that the vast majority of players enjoyed themselves too. Players from other servers were clamoring for similar events on their servers.

"That really was a lot of fun. I hope we can try it again soon," Mokuba said as he switched over to an alternate character just to screw around a little.

"I don't see why not," Seto responded easily. But even though he was working on revising his in-game mail to the players, he was leaning back in his chair, looking relaxed.

Mokuba normally would've followed up by offering his assistance, but after he took a closer look at his brother, he paused. The mood in the room had shifted. Yes, Seto was still working, but Yami had scooted his chair over until it was right up against Seto's, and was now leaning over with his chin resting on one hand while the other traced paths up and down Seto's arm. He looked just as relaxed and satisfied as his taller lover as they languorously lounged in their chairs, their eyes half lidded … as if they'd just had sex.

Surely the game wasn't _that_ exciting, was it? But then again, they were gamers… and this was Seto's game. As with all of his creations, there was a part of him woven inexorably into the code, like fibers twisted into yarn. Yami recognized that and was responding to it. And Seto in turn was responding to Yami's feelings… and to his own sense of success.

While there wasn't anything overtly sexual about what they were doing, the entire scene was just too intimate. Feeling increasingly like a voyeur, Mokuba glanced over his other shoulder at Noa. The green-haired teen nodded at him. They didn't need a mindlink to know what the other one was thinking… _I think we ought to leave._

"We're going to go play with our rats or something, okay?" Mokuba finally mumbled since he didn't feel right about just slipping away silently.

Seto looked over at his brother a moment, then nodded.

"And you just stay here and play with Yami," Noa added in the barest of whispers as he and Mokuba stood up, hand in hand. The younger teen tried to not react to the comment, lest it get Seto's attention, but he couldn't help but smile slightly in agreement with the sentiment.

Too bad that despite his efforts, Noa's whisper wasn't quite soft enough. Yami winked at them as they went to leave. At least he didn't say anything about it though, so Seto remained oblivious. But that was what mattered; the last thing Mokuba saw before they shut the door behind them was Seto casually reaching up to stroke Yami's hair, a slight smile still gracing his lips.

* * *

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(Bluesteel): King's back, if anyone needs!

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(Tefa_bob): finally thx dude

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(IKillThings): Man, you waited that whole time to turn in a quest?

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(Tefa_bob): yah

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(RedRum): uh… you know you could've just turned it in to his advisor?

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(Tefa_bob): realy? fffffffff

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(IKillThings): Did you really just sit there?

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(Tefa_bob): yah y

(Frozen Heights: Glacier's Edge)(Daemon-pawn): You missed a totally awesome raid in Gilfer…

* * *

MMORPG Terminology:  
- MMORPG – massively multiplayer online role playing game; online RPG which allows players to all interact in a virtual world. Sometimes abbreviated MMO  
- Archetype - in Duel Monsters, a group of cards with at least 1 defining property, i.e. Dark Magicians (Dark Paladin, Dark Magician Girl, Magician of Black Chaos). Conversely, "Type" refers to broader groups of monsters with common characteristics, i.e. Zombie, Dragon  
- Raid – a group of players grouped together for the purpose of killing stuff  
- Skin - the graphics covering the structure of a figure, giving it its look  
- Guild - an association formed by players for social or raiding reasons  
- Faction - a grouping of allies in the game. Factions include both the players as well as NPCs (non-player characters)  
- NPC - non-player character; computer controlled characters in a game, like townspeople

Author's Notes:  
- To help readers visualize what the avatars look like, I made a collage of the relevant Duel Monsters cards. It's available on my site, located beneath the "Changes" arc.  
- Keep reading past this point if you want to catch a few extra deleted scenes that I decided to post along with the fic, as a thank you to all my readers!

* * *

**BONUS!**

**Deleted scene 1**

Yami looked at the rotating image on the screen and smiled. It had been up to Noa and Mokuba to design their archetype's sprites, including their customized characters, but since Yami didn't have the know-how to do the same, Seto had done his for him once he'd chosen the card for the basis of the design.

In this case, it was "Sky Scourge Enrise" that represented Yami's archetype, the Sky Scourge. Seto had kept the leanness of the winged figure as well as the bondage-inspired outfit, but had recolored him from head to toe so that he was clad in black leather and heavy gold jewelry, with skin and wings glowing as if bathed in warm sunlight. He'd changed the hair too, keeping it long but spiking it on top and tipping it in red, giving it the illusion of being set aflame. The unusual blindfold / headband that the figure wore got played up; Seto left it obscuring the character's eyes but added wings to the side and a Sennen Eye design to emulate the look of the crown Yami had worn as pharaoh.

"I like that. Didn't think about it, but it looks cool. Powerful," Yami commented when Seto toggled to the close-up of the masked face.

"We can make up some bullshit about how they're all blind because they'd pulled an Icarus and tried to fly their island city too close to the sun," the brunette explained. "Or that there's something about their gaze that's so powerful that they have to keep their eyes covered, like that Cyclops guy in that comic about mutants or whatever."

He began scrolling through the sprites that would be available to players. The consistent characteristics defining the archetype were the large feathered wings, sigils decorating the torsos, and of course a decorative hood or covering over the eyes.

"That must be the Sky Scourge, eh?" Noa asked. He'd walked in unnoticed while Seto was showing off his work to Yami.

"It sure is," Yami said happily.

Noa grinned back, and slyly added, "Figures. It's a race of bondage freaks."

* * *

**Deleted scene 2**

"Well, I'm not going to ask Rafael to play a girl. He'd be a damn freakish looking chick. So I guess the Amazonesses will be led by a king," Seto responded once Mai was done making her suggestions after another round of game testing.

Mai scoffed at that. "So? Hello, they're Amazonesses..."

"So?" Seto shot back.

"SO?"

Seto waved his hand dismissively at her. "So they're better off with a man leading them anyhow."

Mai's face reddened in anger. "I swear to God... you are the biggest chauvenist pig, Seto Kaiba!"

Seto's expression didn't change a bit. "… So?"

Mokuba winced as the outraged blonde stormed out of the conference room. "She does bring up a good point though. Nii-sama, you're going to turn off female players if you don't put in some queens." Immediately he had to get the image of Seto spitefully putting in a bunch of drag queens in the game out of his mind. _No no no…_

Seto didn't look like he was giving it much consideration at first, but after a long pause he glanced over at his youngest brother. "Are you volunteering then?"

"Huh?"

"To play a queen."

Considering he'd played a number of female characters in MMOs in the past, Mokuba didn't see why that'd be a problem, as long as the character wasn't just a copy of him in drag. "Oh… well, I don't mind, as long as she doesn't look like me."

"You tell me… you'd be in charge of those graphics," Seto reminded him with a smile.


	4. Victory Lap

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story takes place after chapter 3 of Changes, "Legends of Duel Monsters."  
- Ages of characters in this story: Seto and Yami are 21, Noa and Mokuba are 16.

* * *

**Victory Lap**

**Changes Series**

* * *

He couldn't believe it.

He'd won.

He'd actually _won_. For the first time ever…

Seto stared down at the cards in his hand, at the faint, shimmering remains of the Dark Magician inside the small, portable duel box that sat on the sofa between them. In his mind he could still see the blinding flash of light as his dragon loosed its final attack on Yami's mage. Seto shook his head. He was still expecting to see the blast get blocked or negated somehow, even though it was all over… It had seemed Yami always had a Spellbinding Circle or Mirror Force on hand to thwart him. But not this time…

It felt like time had crawled to a standstill as Seto's brain ran through the entirety of the duel, move by move, card by card. He couldn't help but analyze every detail. What had he done differently this time? His deck was more or less the same as it always was; so was his strategy. Yami too had played like he normally did, and he hadn't been distracted or impaired in any way.

So what had made the difference?

Was it just luck? No, he refused to believe that. One couldn't beat the King of Games with luck alone. That'd be like saying Jounouchi was a great duelist – HA! - because he was stubborn enough to roll the dice over and over until things went his way.

Was it skill then? Yami had once told him, "We have no difference in skill." But even if Seto were to believe that, wouldn't that mean the best he could hope for was a draw, unlikely as that was? It didn't mean he'd win. Certainly he never had before.

… Was it possible that Yami had _thrown_ the duel?

Immediately Seto felt anger and remorse flood through his system for thinking of such a thing, even for a moment. Yami wasn't that sort of duelist, that sort of man. He deserved better than to be doubted like that.

But maybe… maybe Yami hadn't given it his all? Maybe he'd become complacent, so confident in his abilities that he'd come to believe he couldn't be beaten… Maybe he…

_God damn it! _the brunette cursed at himself. He couldn't believe he'd think something like that right after accusing Yami of throwing the duel. Yes, the crimson-eyed man was arrogant, but not to the degree that he'd give anything less than his best. That wasn't Yami at all. And Seto _knew_ that!

So then why couldn't he just accept that he'd won? Wasn't that what he'd dreamed of for years? Why couldn't he just be happy about it? He knew that was how he ought to feel. He ought to be laughing until he was out of breath; he ought to be gloating and rubbing his win in Yami's face. So why was everything so _different_ now?

Seto's head suddenly jerked up and he looked around. There were no spectators, no crowd… Not even Mokuba had been there to see it. If it weren't for Yami, sitting there, staring back at him stonily, he might've thought the whole thing a fantasy.

Seto wondered what was going through his boyfriend's head. He couldn't get a read on him. He could've just mind linked him, but it felt wrong to do so when he didn't know if Yami was mad or upset or ashamed or what. That only left one option then…

"What happened?" Seto finally asked.

Yami had just gotten up and began pacing back and forth, but stopped abruptly upon hearing Seto's question. "Isn't it obvious? I lost, you won."

A strange mix of irritation and guilt made Seto's jaw muscles tighten. "Well _sorry_…"

Yami stared at him a moment longer, then let loose a breath he'd been holding in. He picked up the duel box and moved it onto the floor, then sat down on the sofa and said, "No, don't. I'm sorry… I'm being unfair. You beat me fairly. I'm just… it's hard losing, even to you."

"Because you didn't think it would ever happen."

"Perhaps I wasn't expecting it today, no, but I knew it would happen eventually. I've always believed we were equals."

What Yami said made no sense at all. "Then why have I lost over and over again? How does that make us equals?" Seto snarled, quickly setting his cards down before his hands accidentally creased them in agitation.

"You had chained yourself down with rage and hatred. And it took time for you to free yourself from them. But in doing so, you've unearthed true strength as well. Your bond with your deck has become very powerful – I've seen you draw your cards at will."

Seto looked down at his deck, feeling for a moment that he could almost see through the backs of the cards and identify each one. Then he glanced back at Yami. "You say that, but look at how angry I've gotten just now."

"You're allowed to have an emotional reaction. It's not like you're actually mad at me."

_I was, for a moment,_ Seto admitted. _I'd thought… you'd underestimated me._

_No, never. I have always respected you. If I didn't, I would have lost to you a long time ago. That's how formidable a duelist you are._

Seto shook his head. He felt stupid, having to have Yami console him when he'd won and Yami had lost. The former Pharaoh was a proud man; certainly losing had to have stung. And yet all he could do was nurse Seto's wounded pride instead of treating his own. _I really am sorry. Of course I wanted to win… but I never wanted to see you lose, either. I know that doesn't make sense…_

_It does, in a way. I haven't been dueling you all these years to inflate my own ego. I wanted to see you win too._

_This doesn't change anything. I don't think any less of you, _Seto said a little more emphatically.

_Thanks…_

_I mean it! You'll always be the King of Games. _

Yami couldn't help but smile. His boyfriend could've reacted to his victory by showboating… but instead he was clumsily trying to make him feel better. Yami wondered if it was possible to fall in love with him even more.

_I just… I wanted to be someone who deserves you. I wanted you to be proud of me, _Seto quietly finished.

Yami turned and knelt on the sofa and gently took Seto's face in his hands. He pressed a kiss onto his forehead. _I am, Kai-baby, more than you know._

Seto wrapped his arms around Yami and leaned back, pulling the smaller man down on top of him as they lay back onto the sofa. It felt good to just lie there together. It was a relief to know Yami wasn't still upset. And then finally, it began sinking in, just what he'd accomplished…

"I won." Even hearing his own voice saying it, it was still hard to believe.

Yami kissed Seto again, this time on the cheek, then the lips. "Yes."

_I wish Mokuba could've seen it. _

Yami nodded. He knew that was the one thing that would've made the moment even more magical for Seto, but at the same time, a small, selfish part of him was glad things worked out as they did. For one, Seto hadn't handled winning the way he imagined he would've. He'd been stunned into silence instead of laughing in triumph, instead of gloating and celebrating his victory. And two, Yami liked that the moment was private, that he'd been the only one to witness Seto's win. It was appropriate when they no longer dueled for fame or fortune, when there were no enemies opposing them, no memories to recover.

And duels really were such intimate things. Strip away the flashy tournaments and virtual effects, and it came down to two players with cards, sitting just arm's distance apart, with only a paper field – or a portable duel box – separating them.

But at the same time Yami knew how much it'd mean to Mokuba to see his big brother triumph in one of their duels. That's why it meant a lot to Seto too. _He will, someday. We'll duel many more times, _he assured his boyfriend.

_You aren't satisfied with losing just once, are you, Yami-kins?_ Seto asked with amusement lightening his mental voice.

_Don't get cocky. I'm not going to go easy on you, you know._

_I know. That's how I like it, _Seto purred back. He was amazed at how much better he felt now that he'd accepted his victory. It was fun flirting with Yami while they cuddled. It was almost better than aggressively fucking one another… not that that wasn't an option too, it just wasn't what they were looking for at the moment.

Seto sighed softly. He'd enjoyed spending time with Yami, playing the game that had brought them together. Winning hadn't been on his mind. It hadn't been his goal. It had just _happened_.

Was it really that simple?

_Yes…_

Yami shifted his body slightly so that his legs slid over Seto's, so that his foot traced the long, lean calf muscles. Seto stroked him back, lightly touching Yami's face and neck, his arms and back. They kissed and nuzzled, a promise of passion sweetened by love and tempered by restraint.

But Seto knew well enough to know that Yami couldn't resist for long – he'd followed up his own losses by fucking Yami into the bed, the sofa, the floor… whatever was convenient. It had been a way for him to express his frustration while asserting himself as well, as if forcefully thrusting into his lover somehow negated his loss. But now he knew… the "control" he'd been grasping at was all an illusion. He'd been the one seduced by the power, the one falling under the spell. So of course he understood better than anyone how Yami was feeling at the moment. There was satisfaction in knowing that too.

As predicted, it didn't take much for Yami to step over the line: he deepened his kisses, then a hand found its way under the waistband of Seto's pants while the other snuck under Seto's shirt to thumb at the nipples. Seto responded eagerly to every touch but made sure to leave it to Yami take the lead, though it grew more and more difficult to restrain himself as things got more heated.

Luckily Yami wasn't interested in having Seto do anything but lie there and take it. He rolled his body over on top of the taller man's, straddled it as he gathered up Seto's wrists and pinned them down just above his head. His kisses became more feverishly aggressive – he sucked hard on Seto's lower lip and lightly set his teeth on it. His fingers tugged urgently at the buttons of Seto's pajama top until the chest was laid bare; he gave the bottoms the same treatment until Seto's pants and boxers tangled around his lower legs. Then Yami paused, pulling away slightly as if to examine his prey.

_Don't move,_ Yami finally commanded.

And Seto didn't. He had no problem with that; he wasn't going anywhere.

The ex-spirit headed off into the bedroom and then the bathroom, gathering up a bundle of things in his arms before returning. Seto didn't bother looking over, figuring whatever he had was wrapped up in a towel anyhow. Besides, surprises were fun, as long as they involved Yami.

_(LEMON DELETED FOR FFNET – full version on my site.)_

Winning, losing… it hadn't changed a thing.

* * *

Author's Notes:  
- Thanks to Nenya for betaing this, and pushing me to do it. And for those who are reading this on ffnet the full lemon version is on my homepage; link is available on my profile page. But reviews here for either version would be appreciated : D  
- Before I started work on this chapter I'd thought for sure that Seto had won against Yami at some point in my ficverse. I figured I'd only mentioned it in passing. But once I tried looking for where I had mentioned it, I realized... it hadn't happened. At least, not that I could see. So this was the perfect opportunity to include a fic like this. After all, dueling is an essential part of their characters and relationship.  
- This wasn't how I originally imagined the scene. I'd figured Seto would be a lot more pissed off, and Yami a lot more aggressive… and then I realized that that couldn't happen, not if what Yami said about Seto defeating his rage was true (see the mangas, end of Alcatraz). So as usual I let them chose their own path, move by move, and I think it worked out in the end : )


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